c'est sur la politique qu'elle chevauche de pré

férence : the same mctaphor is kept hère as in p. 69, 1. 27.

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70. S- Tunis : the capital of Tunis, regency in North Africa, now

under a French protectorate.

,, 21. de l'amour ou du dévouement: the partitive genitive is sometinies used in cases where the genitive would not be used in English ; e.g. qui est le plus grand, de César ou rf' Alexandre ?

71. 15. chouanner : a made-up verb from Choua?i, i.e. 'join the

Chouans' insurrection.' The name of Chouans was given to the French Royalist insurgents in the north-west of France. Their leader, Jean Cottereau, was nicknamed chouan (i.e. 'owl'), because he imitated an owl's screech in order to warn his companions of danger.

,, 20. Dante (1256-1321), the great Italian poet, author of the Divina Commedia. He was banished from Italy, about 1300 A.D. , by a powerful religious party. He then went to France, and finally retired to Ravenna, where he died.

72. 6. touché : cf. toucher un chique, ' to cash a chèque ' ■,fai touché

de r argent aujourd' hui , ' I received some money to-day.'

,, 17. Procida (i 225-1302) instigated the massacre of the French in Sicily, on the day after Easter 1282, called the Sicilian Vespers, the signal for its commencement being given by the bell for vespers (evening service).

,, les Vêpres Siciliennes, a tragedy by Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843). He ViVOie r Écote des Vieillards, which secured forhim his élection as a member of the 'Académie française,' and also Louis XI, les Enfants d' Edouard, Don Juan d Autriche, etc.

73. 22. cordon sanitaire, ' sanitary cordon,' a line of soldiers whose

duty is to exclude from a place men or animais coming from infected districts.

74. 9. machiavélique, from Macchiavelli (1469-1527), an Italian

diplomatist and political writer, who advocated in his writings the theory that la fin justifie les moyens; hence 'cunning,' ' crafty. ' ,, 17. messied : messeoir (' to be unbecoming ') is hardly used now except in this tense.

75. II. livres de rente : the livre was a French coin of the value

of twenty sous, which was replaced by the franc when the décimal System was adopted in France. In speaking of incomes, livres (f. ) is still often used vvith the meaning of francs, not of pounds. Rente means ' income derived from investment or property ' ; la Rente, 'Government stocks,' ' consols ' ; rentier, ' a man of independent means. ' ,, 16. un cran (Lat. crena), lit. 'a notch. ' Cf. monter (F un cran,

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' to rise a peg higher ' ; descendre d'un cran, ' to corne down a peg.'

76. 7. mes extravagances de l'année dernière, i.e. ' the silly conduct by which Guibout had sought to annoy the marquis ' (sec p. 22, 11. 4-22).

,, 15. je vous sais gré de, 'I am thankful to you for • .' Cf. de gré à gré, ' by niutual agreement,' ' privately.'

,, 20. la forge, i.e. le maître de forges Guibout.

,, ,, le château, i.e. le propriétaire du château, le Marquis de Montespard.

,, 22. l'un, i.e. le châteati dît Marquis de Montespard.

,, 23. Masaniello (a corruption of Thomas Ainello), a Neapolitan fisherman, born in 1623, successfully led the insurrection of the Neapolitan people against the Duke of Arcos, the Spanish Viceroy (1647). He soon lost his popularity, however, and was killed by bandits in the pay of the Duke of Arcos. The French composer Auber (1782-1871) made his story the subject of one of his opéras.

, , se chauffer de l'autre, ' warm themselves with the other ' (la forge), i.e. ' by setting fire to it.'

,, 26. charivari : see note p. 22, 1. 19.

,, tocsin, lit. ' alarm-bell ' ; fîg. par le tocsin, 'in an alarming vvay,' ' dangerously. '

78. I. modérée, i.e. ' of no strong political partisanship. ' ,, 13. crédit, 'influence.'

,, 28. son ruban, i.e. sa. décoration.